Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** this new forest economy can…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** this new forest economy can create significant economic impacts because the federal government, which controls over 50 percent of the land in the U.S. West, contracts with private sector businesses to conduct these activities. Activity from IT. Further, forest management policies increasingly require labor-intensive activities, and contracting regulations and practices for these activities typically reward the lowest bidders, despite efforts to prioritize other criteria such as local economic impacts. These low bids are made possible by a mobile, often transnational, and partially undocumented latinx workforce that faces low wages, unsafe working conditions, and high rates of poverty. The forest management and wildfire risk issues that drive demand for this workforce are growing in urgency and significance for state and federal management, research, and extension across the west coast in response to recent devastating wildfire seasons, promising to expand the forestry sector dramatically in coming years. Yet its growth may not produce prosperity for rural workers and communities if IT is based in unsustainable and inequitable labor, and in policies and practices that do not address rural community development needs. The new forest economy consists of activities that improve environmental quality and the production of ecosystem services while continuing to provide fiber and bioenergy. Long forest health and productivity, however, depends in turn on sustainable workforces that can perform these activities, and on investment in this crucial human capital. Improved understanding of the factors and contextual conditions that enhance economic opportunities for forest-based, rural businesses and communities, in tandem with deliberate application of this understanding through education and extension, will help sustain productive and sustainable use of USFS lands, and improve the reduction of wildfire risk. IT will also allow latinx workers more opportunity to contribute to and participate in rural prosperity, which will enhance their quality of life, and the quality of life and economic viability of rural businesses and communities. The project's integrated research, education, and extension design will allow US to generate and apply new scientific knowledge to meaningfully inform practical decision-making with positive societal impacts for people and organizations at all scales from national forest policy decision makers to forest workers on the ground.